


An Unexpected Place

by SecurityBreach



Series: Frostiron Bingo and Other Challenges [3]
Category: Iron Man (Comics), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Domestic, Feels, Food, Homelessness, Hurt/Comfort, Loneliness, M/M, Magic, Magical Realism, Not Canon Compliant, References to comic books, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:01:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22170718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecurityBreach/pseuds/SecurityBreach
Summary: Somehow, Obadiah Stane has managed to take over Stark Industries. Now Tony is broke and homeless and has nowhere to go. Except, perhaps, an old enemy? The former billionaire plucks up all his courage and decides to pay a visit.
Relationships: Loki/Tony Stark
Series: Frostiron Bingo and Other Challenges [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1446526
Comments: 22
Kudos: 133





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I love the comic books were Tony loses everything and has to work his way back.
> 
> **Square filled: g5 (hurt/comfort)**

The man formerly known as Iron Man hesitated for a moment before pressing the doorbell button that was sitting next to the nameplate with a Scandinavian-sounding name on it. _So humiliating_ , he thought while waiting for an answer, but the truth was he was running out of options and had nowhere else to go.

‘Yes?’ a sophisticated male voice answered after a short while. The speaker sounded a little out of breath yet hopeful, as if he were expecting company but had long given up all hope of their arrival.

‘It’s Tony.’

A brief silence and a sharp intake of breath followed this announcement. ‘Tony who?’ asked the voice.

 _Don’t be an ass,_ Tony thought, y _ou know who I am_. Then he said, ‘Stark.’

There was a sigh and the buzzer sounded. ‘Come in,’ the voice drawled reluctantly, but Tony had already pushed the door open, eager to enter and hopeful of finding shelter for the night and maybe a bit of supper too, if possible.

*****

Naturally, the elevator was out of work and now it was Tony’s time to sigh: climbing all those stairs wasn’t easy for a middle-aged man out of shape with a drastically reduced lung capacity and a heart condition who hadn’t eaten properly for several days. Also, he was tired and could feel a cold coming on. Today was Thursday again, the third one after he had mysteriously lost his company and home to Obadiah Stane, former business associate and fatherly friend. Even Pepper Potts, his capable assistant who usually knew what was going on within Stark Industries, hadn’t seen it coming. She had given Tony all the cash she had on her when the coup happened, but the former billionaire had run out of money a while ago. That meant he couldn’t afford staying in the budget hostel he’d found any longer. Tony had spend some nights sleeping in various public spaces while winter was approaching, and he could feel the frost in his bones already.

 _This is going to be bad_ , he thought, ignoring the dull ache behind his forehead and the sore feeling in his throat. _I wish I could have a drink now_. Resigned, Tony braced himself for what was waiting for him and knocked softly on the door of the man he had come to see.

The door was opened immediately, even before Tony had the time to remove his hand again; Loki, the little shit, must have been standing right there with his fingers around the handle waiting for another request from Tony to be allowed inside.

‘Greetings, Anthony, Son of Howard,’ said the Norse God of Mischief, curiosity shining from his bright green eyes. ‘What brings you to my door?’

‘Howdy,’ Tony retorted resolutely, determined to beat down any potential opposition on Loki’s side with the help of the patent Stark Swagger™. He had a plan after all, and he was going to see it through even though he was experiencing difficulties with holding himself upright right now. And to make things worse, Tony found it immediately difficult to focus because of the heavenly aroma of freshly baked bread wafting from the apartment.

Tony had enough self-respect left not to salivate, but he couldn’t stop his stomach from growling.

Loki raised an eyebrow and looked down haughtily on the former billionaire, but somehow, the effect was spoiled by the fact that the god was wearing an apron and a hairnet. He was also carrying a kitchen towel draped over his shoulder. ‘You look needy,’ Loki said after a while.

‘Yeah?’ Tony replied. ‘Looks can be deceiving.’ _Not quite my old form, but I think I’m getting there._

‘Or so they say.’ Loki nodded, adding, ‘But you sound needy too,’ with a sneer as Tony’s stomach rumbled again.

‘That's just rude, and besides, I haven’t come here to exchange banter,’ Tony replied with a fake smile. _Thank you for being a jerk, Lokes. You’re making this a lot easier for me than I expected._

Loki’s eyes lit up. ‘Well, I’m glad you haven’t lost your sense of humour despite losing everything else.’

 _Dude is enjoying himself. Great._ Tony eyed the hairnet that covered Loki’s long black curls. It looked so utterly ridiculous and out of character for the infamous supervillain, it helped him to focus again. ‘Stop being an asshole, Loki.’

The god looked so remorseful, it almost made Tony laugh at his overacting. Unfortunately, he couldn’t afford to.

‘Anthony Stark, please tell me what you have come for then,’ Loki begged in an exaggerated humble tone of voice. ‘I have an apple pie in the oven that needs watching.’

‘Sorry to disturb your domestic bliss, Reindeer Games, but I’ve been thinking.’

‘Why, yes. I’m pleased to hear that.’

 _Now this is the hard part,_ Tony thought. He swallowed, cursed his sore throat, and took a deep breath. Then he asked, ‘Remember all those times we fought each other?’

‘I certainly do,’ Loki responded amiably. ‘What about it?’

‘You ruined an awful lot of equipment.’

‘Yes?’

‘The suits alone were worth...’ Tony stopped in mid-sentence. Suddenly, the whole stunt was starting to feel uncomfortably like begging and he could sense the whole weight of his filthy clothes on his unwashed body.

‘Millions of Dollars,’ Loki added dreamily, completing the sentence while smiling fondly at the memory. ‘And wasn’t it fun. Busting your armour was quite a challenge sometimes.’

Tony winced. He remembered every single armour-busting and the resulting injuries only too well. He also remembered all those damn superhero-landings that ruined his knees despite the highly-advanced shock absorbers in his armours’ joints. But in those days, Tony had access to the world’s leading doctors, and health care had never been a problem.

For a moment, Tony felt dizzy and weak, and he had to close his eyes.

‘If you faint at my doorstep, people will blame me,’ Loki said. He sounded cold and acrimonious. ‘So don’t. I gather you’ve come to collect, then?’

‘Well, that was the plan,’ whispered Tony, ‘but I’m just realising how stupid it sounds.’

‘Not at all. I had a lot of fun at your expense while you were affluent and so I think it was worth a try. The only problem is, I don’t have millions of dollars in cash lying around. A hundred, maybe.’

‘That would buy me a room for the night and some food.’

‘And you could always come back for more alms tomorrow after I had the time to go to the ATM.’

“Alms!’ Tony exclaimed horrified.

Loki chuckled, but then he took another look at Tony and frowned. ‘Are you ill?’ he asked sharply.

‘Just a cold.’

‘And now you’re planning to sleep in a bunk bed in the dorm of a possibly roach infested doss-house? Surrounded by strangers and with no one to look after you?’

Tony could watch a whole movie going on on Loki’s face. ‘You see, I'm just looking for a place to stay for tonight,’ he finally admitted. ‘A good night’s sleep is all I need.’

‘Then come inside,’ the villain said, opening his door wide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for reading my story so far! Would you like to leave a comment or kudos? I'd love to hear from you.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It takes a lot of courage to ask Loki for help. But the results could be... surprising?

Now that he had reached his goal, Tony suddenly felt panic rising inside of him. _What if it’s a trap?_ he thought, imagining all the things Loki could do once he was inside. _I can still take the 100 bucks and run._ _Or perhaps not, I’m so tired and out of breath._

Loki was regarding him with that strange look of curiosity again as if he were pondering a serious problem. Then the god started worrying his fingers, an odd nervous habit Tony had noticed before.

The cool, steady, and scrutinizing gaze was beginning to make Tony feel ill at ease, though. _He's looking at me as if I was an interesting specimen he'd like to pin for his collection,_ he thought. _Just stop, please?  
_

‘It takes a lot of courage to come to me for help,’ Loki said after a while.

‘I’m just desperate.’ replied Tony.

‘Ah,’ the god breathed, adding, ‘Did Thor tell you that the laws of hospitality are sacred on Asgard and its protectorates?’

‘You’re not known for playing by the rules, Lokes.’

‘Indeed.’ Loki shrugged. ‘But remember, I, too, know what it means to lose everything.’

‘There’s always that.’

‘And perhaps I knocked on the wrong door for support.’

Tony could see he was dead serious now and would have liked to learn more about this, but the expression on Loki's face had turned totally blank after making this confession.

‘Also, I won’t risk a curse from some obscure entity only for the joy of spitting in your soup. I feel I carry enough of those on me already,’ Loki continued as if nothing had happened.

‘Gross, but I’m feeling much safer now.’ The sarcasm was completely lost on Loki.

‘Then come,’ the god finally urged, ‘be my guest. The least I can do is giving you some supper and a room for the night: I have fresh stew on the stove and bread to break, but please take your shoes off first. They look soiled.’

‘That might be a problem,’ Tony admitted while thinking on the state of his socks.

‘Yes, I can see you have joined The Great Unwashed since our last encounter.’

‘Now, look…,’ Tony started to protest, but then he felt a strange tingling sensation around his feet and when he looked down, his footwear had totally disappeared. ‘Whoa!’ he exclaimed.

Loki merely shrugged again and smiled smugly. ‘They’re on the balcony, Tony Stark,' he explained. 'Now would you like to come inside or do you prefer to camp in front of my door?’

Needless to say, Tony chose the first option: he hurried into the apartment on his bare feet and, despite his anxiety, felt kind of relieved when Loki closed the door behind him.

The inventor took a good look around and saw a vast living area to his right and a smaller open kitchen with an adjoining dining table to his left. Tony spotted two more doors and a narrow corridor. _Looks like a perfect place to share. If one can stomach living with Loki._

The place was surprisingly cosy, Tony had no other word for it. It was a place to come home to, antique and vintage furniture mixing with new pieces. Someone had obviously paid much attention to detail and the result filled Tony with a feeling of warmth and welcome. There was a comfortable couch with plenty of pillows and plaids casually thrown on it and a huge armchair with matching footstool. The sight made Tony want to snuggle up immediately, but then he was distracted by what was going on in the kitchen where Loki was peeping into the oven.

‘Almost ready,’ the god said. ‘Apple pie, just like grandmother used to make it.’

 _Of course it would be grandma’s apple pie. You know, it’s is almost too much, Loki, but what a finishing touch,_ Tony thought while allowing himself to relish the lovely fragrance for a moment. Then he managed to pull himself together and said flippantly, 'This is not the supervillain lair I expected.' It was hard to keep focusing on the opulent rugs on the floor but he needed to distract himself from the pot on the stove and the bread on the counter. Judging by the pile of neatly folded up bags, Loki must have done a lot of grocery shopping recently.

‘It is not? I’m sorry to disappoint. Do you have any luggage?’

‘No,’ Tony admitted. 'Everything happened so quickly. There was no time to salvage any of my stuff, and Obi didn’t even let me take dad’s old golf bag with me.'

‘I can surely understand the appeal of a nice round of golf in your situation.’

Heavyhearted, Tony tried to smile. ‘It was a disguised Iron Man suit, a variant of the Mark V, the Suitcase Armour, which I build for funsies.’ Feeling the need to relief his tension, he added in a badly faked humorous tone, ‘And for an emergency exit, of course. The golf crowd can be more angst inducing than you might think.’  
  
Loki regarded the former billionaire with something resembling compassion. ‘Just let me show you your room then. I’ll find you something to wear while you’re taking your bath.’

For a moment, Tony thought his ears were betraying him. ‘Bath? You want me to go naked in your apartment?’ he asked despite wanting nothing more than to soak himself in a tub full of clean, hot water. That, and some of the nice supper Loki had prepared. But since he knew the trickster god and his mischievous ways only too well, Tony was still suspicious of his unexpected generosity.

‘This is what you worry about? Midgardians are truly much more entertaining than I suspected.’

‘I’m feeling vulnerable.’

‘That’s because you _are_ vulnerable, Stark. But rest assured: if I wanted to finish you off, you’d be dead already. What protection do you think your miserable rags are offering you?’

‘Yeah, I should have left my armour on for that,’ murmured Tony. ‘My bad.’

‘You can have the spare room if you want to stay,’ Loki said indifferently, crossed the living area and opened the door to the right.

That didn’t sound too inviting, but when he followed his host, Tony relaxed. The lofty, spacious room they entered was well-aired, beautifully furnished, and spotlessly clean. The bed was _huge_ , almost certainly custom-made for someone at least as tall as Loki.

Then the penny dropped for Tony. The vast amount of empty grocery bags in the kitchen, the large pot of stew simmering slowly on the stove, and the loaves of home-made bread cooling on the counter all made sense now: Loki had clearly been hoping for a guest with an _enormous_ appetite. And today was _Thursday_.

Tony’s and Loki’s eyes met for a moment and, taken by surprise, the god let his mask slip for the fraction of a second; now he looked almost as tired and lonely as the former billionaire felt.

‘Been expecting a visitor lately?’ Tony asked softly. ‘Some close relative, perhaps?’

Loki visibly stiffened. ‘I don’t have a family,’ he replied, quickly recovering his composure and poise.

‘So, no news from Thor?’

‘The God of Thunder and I don’t converse anymore.’ Loki said. ‘Well now, are you staying? We haven’t got all night. I refuse to let my pie burn because of you.’

‘I’m sorry,’ whispered Tony. ‘I didn’t mean to...’

‘Never mind.’ Loki turned around to open a sparsely-filled closet and selected a few items. ‘Here,’ he said, carefully laying out a pair of large pyjamas and an equally large men’s morning gown on the bed. ‘Those are new and will do for tonight, I hope. We can go shopping as soon as you are feeling better.’

 _So he knows about_ _my_ _handing-_ _quirk_ _,_ Tony, who hated being handed things, thought. _Scar_ _y. I wonder where he got this particular piece of private information._ _Someone is leaking to Loki_ _and this probably_ _explains why he makes such a resourceful adversary._ _Oh, for fuck’s sake._

Suddenly, Loki threw something in his direction. Tony caught it easily and felt somewhat relieved that his reflexes were still working, but then his eyes widened with surprise: it was a pair of socks, showing off the logo of _Stark Industries_. ‘You have been shopping at one of my gift shops,’ Tony stated blankly.

‘Not just any of your gift shops, my friend. What on Midgard are you thinking?’ Loki said. ‘It was the flagship store next to Stark Tower, of course. I enjoyed a dish of ‘Tony’s Favourite Cheeseburger & Fries _’_ and a cup of ‘Tony’s House Blend’ at their eatery afterwards.’

‘I gather it’s not a coincidence the socks are _exactly_ in my size?’

‘Of course not, silly. They’re amongst the best selling merchandise they have, I was told. Customers always ask for clothes in your size even though they don’t fit them, but they seem to make a desirable souvenir.’

‘Hope you liked the coffee, then,’ Tony muttered and gathered the clothes Loki had offered him. ‘Would you mind if I locked the door while I’m bathing?’

Loki sighed but Tony could see a sly smile on his lips. ‘Just wash that smell off yourself, will you? I have a table to set and food to serve.’

 _I'm probably going to regret this_ , Tony felt, but somehow that little smile had made it much easier to give Loki some credit and he followed his host back into the living area where Loki showed him the way to the bathroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for reading Chapter 2 of my fic!
> 
> Howard's old golf bag is a reference to _Iron Man: Industrial Revolution_ , a comic book I enjoyed very much.
> 
> Would you like to leave a comment or kudos? I'd love to hear from you 🤍


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